Richard Ayoade joins Dinosaur Jr on stage in London
In a quite bizarre pairing, director Richard Ayoade joined Dinosaur Jr on stage at their London show on November 13th.
The band are currently doing a four-night residency at The Garage in Islington to celebrate 30 years of their album Where You Been. Choosing to play a more intimate venue with a multiple-night run rather than a bigger location, it’s all about keeping the vibes cosy and chaotic.
From the looks of the TikTok shared by the band, that’s precisely what they’ve managed. Headbanging on stage with the indie favourite director, Dinosaur Jr and Richard Ayoade came together for a raucous rendition of ‘The Lung.’
While it might seem strange for Ayoade to appear on stage, the director has always had a connection with music. His career has seen him directing music videos for the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and more. He collaborated closely with Alex Turner on his debut feature-length film Submarine, where Turner contributed the soundtrack.
Mostly, Ayoade is simply a big fan of Dinosaur Jr. Back in 2015, NME sent The IT Crowd star to talk to his musical hero, the band’s singer and guitarist, J Mascis. In the conversation, the director admitted the band’s 1992 tour with Blur and My Bloody Valentine was the first gig he ever went to.
“I went to see them at Brixton Academy [April 5, 1992], and I didn’t know people would jump up and down. So I got to the front and thought, ‘This is great’,” he said. “Then everyone started jumping and someone’s shoulder went into the bottom of my jaw and I spat out a tooth.”
To which J Mascis replied simply, “I guess you didn’t need that one anyway…”
Talking about what the band means to him, Ayoade said, “They’re my favourite band, every part of it is great, there’s nothing that isn’t. You just feel everything is very carefully thought about and then when you see them live there is so much improvisation.”
Watch the moment below.
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